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DDCF Creates Doris Duke Physician Scientist Fellowship

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

DDCF Creates Doris Duke Physician Scientist Fellowship

New York, N.Y., March 12, 2019 – The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) today announced the creation of the Doris Duke Physician Scientist Fellowship, an inaugural program which will open for application in April 2019 to clinical investigators currently engaged in subspecialty training. Through the Physician Scientist Fellowship, DDCF will aim to encourage emerging physician scientists to pursue careers in clinical research and hope to promote their transition into faculty-level positions.

“We have designed the Physician Scientist Fellowship to offer support at a critical stage in the clinical research career pipeline: the period between residency and early faculty called ‘fellowship,’” said Betsy Myers, program director for medical research at DDCF. “In our surveys of clinician investigators in the early faculty phase of their careers, a substantial number of respondents expressed that increased protected time for research and financial support for an additional year or two of research beyond what was required by their fellowships would have greatly helped them during training. Given the low number of funding sources for researchers at the fellowship stage, we look forward to launching this program to meet what the field has voiced as an important need.”

Recipients of the Physician Scientist Fellowship will be chosen through a competitive, peer-review process by an external expert panel of scientists. Each selected fellow will work under the supervision of a mentor who will guide them towards successful biomedical research careers. Eligible applicants may request one or two years of support at $110,000 per year, depending on their individual needs. Physician Scientist Fellowship grants will start on September 1, 2019.

To receive updates from DDCF’s Medical Research Program on the Physician Scientist Fellowship and other funding opportunities, including the announcement when the Fellowship application site opens, subscribe to the foundation’s Medical Research Program Mailing List...